“The sight of an achievement [is] the greatest gift a human being could offer to others.”
What I love most about the Olympics is that the Games offer a wonderful opportunity to observe a concentration of human joy.
Of course, there is the reverence and inspiration we derive from watching athletes perform at peak excellence. Most of us know little to nothing about Olympic athletes going into, and the feature stories highlighting the trials and tribulations they overcame to reach that grand stage help bridge that disconnect. So when athletes achieve their goals — whether with the performance of their lives or by winning gold — they exude raw jubilance, wear wide smiles, shed tears of joy, throw their arms up, and passionately hug teammates and loved ones. Watching such outbursts of elation is among my favorite experiences, and the Olympics delivers a succession of them across two weeks.
Yes, the Olympics are also about their disappointment at falling short or suffering injury in the quest for perfection or gold. These moments remind us that, no matter how hard you try, success is never guaranteed and life can always throw crushing curveballs.
The highlights of this year's winter Olympics in Milan for me was watching the US men's and women's hockey teams each win gold with overtime goals, a highly improbable and thrilling outcome, and especially witnessing the spectacular gold-medal comeback performance of figure skater Alysa Liu, an athlete-artist I knew nothing about two weeks before.
Alysa and her father Arthur's quintessential American story struck me deeply. She became the youngest woman to win the US National Championships at age 13. Then, she unexpectedly retired at 16 after placing sixth at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, citing burnout. Asserting her independence and individuality, Alysa returned in 2024 and, despite great odds after a two-year hiatus, she reached the highest mountain in her sport on the ice in Italy last week.
“I love struggling, actually. It makes me feel alive.”
What I love most about the Olympics is that the Games offer a wonderful opportunity to observe a concentration of human joy.
Of course, there is the reverence and inspiration we derive from watching athletes perform at peak excellence. Most of us know little to nothing about Olympic athletes going into, and the feature stories highlighting the trials and tribulations they overcame to reach that grand stage help bridge that disconnect. So when athletes achieve their goals — whether with the performance of their lives or by winning gold — they exude raw jubilance, wear wide smiles, shed tears of joy, throw their arms up, and passionately hug teammates and loved ones. Watching such outbursts of elation is among my favorite experiences, and the Olympics delivers a succession of them across two weeks.
Yes, the Olympics are also about their disappointment at falling short or suffering injury in the quest for perfection or gold. These moments remind us that, no matter how hard you try, success is never guaranteed and life can always throw crushing curveballs.
The highlights of this year's winter Olympics in Milan for me was watching the US men's and women's hockey teams each win gold with overtime goals, a highly improbable and thrilling outcome, and especially witnessing the spectacular gold-medal comeback performance of figure skater Alysa Liu, an athlete-artist I knew nothing about two weeks before.
Alysa and her father Arthur's quintessential American story struck me deeply. She became the youngest woman to win the US National Championships at age 13. Then, she unexpectedly retired at 16 after placing sixth at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, citing burnout. Asserting her independence and individuality, Alysa returned in 2024 and, despite great odds after a two-year hiatus, she reached the highest mountain in her sport on the ice in Italy last week.
Her father Arthur is a Chinese immigrant. He grew up in a provincial mountain village, and was among the pro-freedom protest leaders at Tiananmen Square in 1989. Ultimately fleeing to the United States, he earned a law degree at the University of California and founded his own firm specializing in immigration and political asylum. Arthur estimates that he invested as much as $1 million in his daughter's skating career.
It's primarily because of Americans like Arthur Liu that I cheer for USA Olympians such as his daughter — not simply because they are my fellow countrymen, but because America is still a nation where a man can flee persecution, build a life from nothing, and watch his daughter stand atop the world in her sport. Alysa’s benevolent and fearless spirit, her graceful presence on ice during her long program, and her jumping for joy after a career-best performance were the most joyful moments for me watching the Olympics this year.
Once again, the Olympics delivered the gift of joy, reminding me that there is beauty and good aplenty in a world that too often appears broken, ugly, evil. This reminder is not an “escape” from the dysfunction and suffering that surrounds us. It is a fact that too many downplay or ignore, that goodness exists, that human resilience and excellence are real, and that these are values still worth striving to live up to in our own lives.